A former Women’s Land Army member marked her 104th birthday yesterday (Thursday December 16).

Eunice Hobbs was surrounded by staff at the Ceder Care Home in Whittlesey where she lives, as well as one of her three nieces, Margaret, to celebrate her special day.

“I made sure to take her pearls with me when visiting her, she loves to wear them on her birthday,” said Margaret.

“I also took a board in with lots of photos of Eunice from when she was younger that she enjoyed looking through.

“One of those included a photo that we’d blown up from 1917 when she was a baby!”

In her younger years, Eunice was in the Women’s Land Army. She also worked for the GPO underground during the war on the phones.

“She was fluent in French and ended up going out to Paris after that in the Commonwealth to set up all the phones for the meetings there,” said Margaret.

“Later on, she was a civil servant paying all the generals, so she’s seen a lot.”

As a hobby, Eunice liked and still does enjoy playing tennis. “She can still chuck a ball,” said Margaret.

Eunice never had children and lived at home on her own in Middlesex until she was 101 when she moved into Ceder Care Home.

She never liked people to know her age as she says “as soon as people know your age, they treat you differently”.

Margaret said: “It’s a lovely care home. She’s been there nearly three years now and her room overlooks the garden.

“Before going to the care home, I used to go down to Middlesex every other month, then it got to every month and every couple of weeks. She was happy.

“When she had her fall and had to go into hospital, we thought it was easier to move her into a care home then.

“She was under Harrow council so we got her changed to ours which is much better because I can now go and visit her more often.

She added: “Both my sisters have been up in the last three months individually and had time with Eunice behind the screens which was nice.

"Obviously the past couple of years have been hit and miss with us all being able to visit her as we've had to do Zoom calls etc.

"It hasn't been the same but even though she's 104, she can still talk to us and chat about things.

"Our mum (Eunice's sister) died when she was 58, but Eunice has gone on to 104!"